


Ritual (11): The Queen of Diamonds

by mystery_sock (terebi_me)



Series: Ritual [11]
Category: Heroes (TV)
Genre: Dysfunctional Family, Family Drama, Family Secrets, Forbidden Love, Gen, Heroes: Volume 1, Idiots in Love, It's Not Paranoia If They're Really Out To Get You, Lies, M/M, Petrellicest, Secrets, especially when it's your clairvoyant mom, you can't fool a psychic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-21
Updated: 2019-09-21
Packaged: 2020-10-25 12:20:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20724098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/terebi_me/pseuds/mystery_sock
Summary: Just an in-show quickie, twisted for my own purposes. Takes place in the middle of Season 1 Episode 19 ".07%", when Angela confronts Nathan and the newly-revived Peter with an uncomfortable level of knowledge of what they thought they had kept secret.Character development; no smut. Still worth reading! :)





	Ritual (11): The Queen of Diamonds

**Author's Note:**

> [original note] The title comes from the excellent 1962 film THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, which Tim Kring lists as an influence on his concept of the role of Angela Petrelli (and in general; the main character's name is Marco Bennett!). I highly recommend the film, but beware - it may give you nightmares.

_5 NOVEMBER 2006_

_PETER: About what just happened... Nathan and I need to talk to you._  
_ ANGELA: It's okay, I know. I knew long before either of you did._

"How much do you know?" Peter asked carefully.

"Everything," Angela replied. "Nathan, your ability. Peter... your ability. And your limitations. And... the rest. About you two."

Nathan said nothing, but Peter said shakily, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on, Peter." Angela rolled her eyes impatiently. "Give me some credit. I may just be your old mother, but I'm not an idiot. I know what you two have going. I've known all along. Since you were children. At first, it was just a suspicion, but the more I observed, the more obvious it became. I know real love when I see it." She gave a little smile, tight, like she was trying to keep something overwhelming inside. But her vibe wasn't negative; it was more... regretful. "Don't worry, your father had no idea. He had his mind on other things. Bigger, more important things than his sons playing doctor."

"Ma!" Nathan blurted.

"Be quiet, Nathan. You can't hide something like that from me. I'm your mother. I know you both better than you know yourselves. Or each other. Someone else might have seen you two, and dismissed their alarm bells, because relationships like that... simply don't exist. It's so far outside the realm of anything that sensible adults do... that even lunatics do... it would be simply impossible. Invisible. But I could see it." She took a few delicate steps to the sideboard, and gently rearranged Nathan's trophies on the mantel. "I can always notice... that kind of bond."

"Why didn't you stop us?" Peter murmured, sounding very childlike for a moment, his quivering voice melding fear, shame, confusion, even a faint sense of relief.

The end of hiding, at least from her. Terrible and terrifying, but that thread of lies had been cut at last. That had been the very worst of it — worse by far even than the almost continually-unsatisfied longing — having to lie to his mother about such an essential part of him. But he would have gladly died rather than tell her the truth. She was right; even lunatics would have recoiled in disgust at what he and Nathan did.

And yet, she wasn't recoiling from them. It seemed more like she was telling them to stop eating too much Halloween candy, or they'd get stomachaches. Kind of loving, kind of impatient, kind of... _been there_.

_This is the kindest way,_ floated from her thoughts into Peter's aching brain. _It ends now, or it takes us all to torture and death. Even if it hurts now — oh, and I know it does — it always hurts so much to give up the perfect lover — they'll thank me in the end. Benefit of my experience. If I can spare them — spare **you**, Peter — my baby —  
_

Angela shrugged. "I had hoped you'd... grow out of it. Once upon a time, you needed this. You needed your big brother; you needed to... express this new feeling of sexuality with the one person on earth who you could trust." She pressed on, shutting her eyes to Peter's uncomfortable squirming. "And Nathan... you needed to be adored. You needed to let yourself be loved unconditionally. Why that had to happen with Peter — God! Still a child! — I wish I didn't understand. Why it still needs to happen... well, it's just a bad habit, is what it is."

"Ma, please." Nathan shook his head.

"I told you to be quiet. I tried to turn a blind eye; I tried not to notice. I hoped and prayed for that day when you would grow out of it. But that day never happened. You're both still strange and selfish children." Her eyes flashed cobalt lightning. "It stops here and now. It ends here, and it stays between us. _It is over_." Angela enunciated clearly and crisply, watching the eyes of her sons drop to the floor, watching them standing straight and perfectly still, faces composed and grim, as if they were at a funeral.

When she spoke again, her voice was gentle. "I want you to know that I don't judge you," she said. "I've never judged you for loving each other. Ever. And I still don't. You live extraordinary lives; you have extraordinary needs... someone from without wouldn't understand. You have both tried, and it has only worked so well. But you have neglected the one important step that would give yourselves a better chance. Nathan, in particular — it is time for you to move on and stop clinging to adolescent comforts."

Nathan shook his head, rubbed his temples; Peter hadn't moved or raised his eyes. He looked miserable. Angela sighed and said firmly, "This ends, not because it's wrong, but because you will do nothing but distract each other. Nathan _must_ take office. And Peter, you must assist him in every way that you can. Everything is at stake now. And once Nathan has won his seat in Congress, you will no longer have the luxury of anonymity, of being able to scurry away to... be with each other. You will be under constant surveillance and scrutiny — not just to assure your physical safety, but to find chinks in your armor, to constantly search for weaknesses. Peter is a weakness that you can't afford."

"I'm not going to stand here and listen to this," Peter broke in suddenly. "You can't talk to me like that."

"I can't tell you the truth?" Angela countered, cocking her head and arching her eyebrow in just the way that Nathan did. It made Peter's blood boil. "You know it's the truth, Peter. If you truly love Nathan, end this; walk away, and let him fulfill his destiny. And you — embrace your own."

Peter bitterly shook his head. "Killing millions of people; some destiny. Nice, loving legacy you've given us, Mom," he said, turning and walking from the room. "I'm gonna go talk to Claire..."

Angela gazed after him, her eyes glistening with tears that she would never shed, but couldn't stop her eyes from creating. "He doesn't know," she said softly, half to herself and half to Nathan. "He doesn't know how much I love him."

"You could have showed him once in a while," Nathan said under his breath.

When he finally dared to meet her eyes, Nathan's mother wore a tight little smile, eyes wide and shining with a cunning menace. "You know what you have to do," she said to him. "And I'm sorry... I truly am. And I understand. It makes sense... we are all drawn to each other, and ordinary morality simply seems irrelevant. It is up to you — it's always up to you, you know. You've seen. We can't live by their rules, but the rules do exist, until and unless you find ways to circumvent them. I don't think you can in this case. The future must follow a different path."

"And it's the only path I've got," Nathan said heavily. It was awful, how much she sounded like Linderman, had the same soothing, undeniable cadence that made it seem like contradiction or questions were simply... inelegant. Ugly and stupid. Out of place. Beneath him. A nasty ripple in a smooth, reflective pond. And Nathan disliked disruption and assymmetry... he liked things neat and straightforward. How much of his life, his autonomy, his freedom, had he given up to keep life smooth?

_And Peter..._ That jagged knife of disruption, chaos, imperfection that Nathan treasured so much, from his broken voice to his crooked legs, from his messy hair to his kissable, lickable, fuckable half-paralyzed mouth...

Nathan kept his tears inside, too.

"It's the only path there is," Angela agreed, resting her hand on Nathan's shoulder, standing on tiptoes to kiss Nathan's cheek. Her perfectly set lipstick left no visible mark on Nathan's skin, but he could feel it marking him like an invisible brand — THIS ONE BELONGS TO ME. "Your life has been leading up to this point," she went on softly. "You must have a heart of stone and a mind of diamond to withstand the coming storm. It will challenge you more than you've ever been challenged. And you must leave parts of your life behind, even if it seems now that you can't possibly live without them."

"I have to talk to Peter," Nathan said, edging away from his mother's touch.

"Let him go, Nathan," Angela commanded, and Nathan's steps faltered. "Let him go. It's over now. And you're about to be elected to the United States government. There are bigger things to think about. He won't talk, of course. Peter. You needn't worry about that."

"Or you'll have him rubbed out?" Nathan said flatly.

"Bite your tongue," Angela said, frowning. "Don't say things like that unless you want them to come true. Because they can. Be a man, Nathan. Go spend some time with your wife and children. They're never going to be able to go home again. Cushion the blow. And be grateful that they'll survive this — if — you do what needs to be done. Save the world, Nathan. It's in your hands."

**Author's Note:**

> Dialogue (in italics) from ".07%" written by Chuck Kim and Tim Kring, directed by Adam Kane.
> 
> Ritual reader's guide [to come]


End file.
